Letters to the Editor published Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009

Observations – Obama restricted all offshore oil drilling, and then the U.S. Import export bank guarantees a $2 billion loan to a Brazilian oil company for offshore drilling in Brazil.

Senator Kennedy pressured the Massachusetts legislature in 2004 to pass a law prohibiting the governor from making an immediate replacement of a vacant U.S. Senate seat; now, he wants the law changed as his seat might soon be vacated.

Senator Kennedy’s input to the pending “health bill” exempts Congress from having to use it, while the rest of us have no choice. Wouldn’t it be fair if the president, Pelosi, Reid, and all the Congress participated with the rest of us?

Seems to me the last town hall meeting I attended the Co-op’s fearless Leaders complained they could not operate wind turbines because of recorded peak wind gusts of over 120 mph. Surprise, wind turbines have on/off switches.

As for the observation about Nuclear Power Plants, the only one ever built in Oregon, the Trojan Plant, sprung a leak and had to be demolished. Anyone remember the movie “The China Syndrome” with Jack Lemmon? Maybe the Touchstone Card could offer a discount for video rentals.

Joe Willett

Harbor

Supporting our U.S. troops

Editor:

The Brookings-Harbor Red Shirts would like to tell Pastor Jim Schultz from the Lighthouse Church how thankful we are for his support of our troops by letting us do our packing in the church.

We also need to give Bob and Elaine Righetti a big, big thank you for all their support in the last three years and for letting us have our meetings at their restaurant and lounge. There has been an overwhelming amount of support from many organizations, businesses and the public here in Brookings-Harbor for our upcoming 9/11 Concert & Candlelight Vigil in Azalea Park.

It is because of this wonderful, giving town that we are able to continue to send packages to our troops “Until They All Come Home.” For that, we thank all of you!

Sharon Hitzman

Brookings-Harbor Red Shirts

Help get back what we had

Editor:

Recently KIEM, Eureka NBC station, went to Mexican programming.

I didn't like that, so called Charter and got Anthony in Virginia. He didn’t know anything about the change.

Then I called 1-888-438-2427 and talked eventually to Amy in West Virginia. She confirmed that they had a program change. I told her it was the one station that is on the coast and gives us our coastal weather. Also that in Eureka Channel 3, KIEM, is broadcast in English with the same format we had before the change.

On calling Charter, you get an electronic voice. Push all the numbers that she says until you get to “Technical Support.” That’s how I got Amy and she was most helpful.

If you want the old format back, please call Charter and try and get a live person to complain. We may get back what we had.

Jane Heaney

Harbor

Get up, reclaim your liberty

Editor:

You know there is something really wrong in America when you representative in Congress comes to your hometown and makes disparaging comments about some of his constituents because of what news station they may watch.

The sleeping giant is indeed awakening but there is an old saying in the Marine Corps that there is always that 10 percent that did not get the word. They just don’t get it. The problem is when the other 90 percent goes to sleep the 10 percent becomes 20, then 30, then 40 and one day you wake up and find that you are the 10 percent and your way of life is over!

I have never heard the news media explain that the “right wing” and the “left wing” are both extremist totalitarian governments preaching the same kind of tyranny. People who know and understand the Constitution, people who believe in the ideals put forth in the Declaration of Independence and people who go to church and believe in God and not the right wing! They are real Americans.

Make no mistake about it. The final battle between good and evil has begun in America. For those of you who have loved ones and are concerned for their future it is time for you to get off of your duff and restore the concept of “We the People” and boldly go forth and reclaim liberty throughout the land.

Arthur D. Larason

Harbor

Support makes a difference

Editor:

I want to take this opportunity to thank you Brookings, for supporting the traveling designer clothing outlet Sale on Aug. 15, and Aug. 16, inside the Brookings Resort Conference Room.

The show was a great success; matter of fact it exceeded my expectations. I am looking forward to bringing you more items in the future.

The best part of the show was seeing my wonderful friends again. Your friendship supporting me in my new venture meant a lot to me. This is the reason I came back to Brookings. No matter where my travels took me I couldn’t find a better group of people with so much joy and love than right here in Brookings.

Your support in all my ventures – the creation of the Farmers Market, Antique Mall, and numerous charity events and now the clothing outlet is what makes business flourish. I want you to know how much you are appreciated in my past businesses and my new venture with the clothing outlet.

Again, thank you Brookings.

Lynn Truman Booth

Brookings

Reforming U.S. healthcare

Editor:

Thanks to all who recently attended one of my 14 town hall meetings.

Many of you expressed legitimate concern about what is in the various drafts of health care reform legislation. While it’s clear from my town hall meetings most people agree the current health care system needs to be changed, there is disagreement about the best way to do it.

I urge everyone to remember all of the proposed bills being discussed nationally are works in progress. There are many ways to improve the proposals, and I think it will take time to craft workable reform legislation. When I return to Washington, D.C., in September, I will share the ideas and concerns I heard from my constituents.

For those of you who weren’t able to attend one of my town hall meetings or who attended and weren’t able to get in, I will also be conducting a telephone town hall meeting on Sept. 3. To join in on the telephone town hall, e-mail me or call my office at 541-465-6732 or 800-944-6403 to sign up. I will need your phone number no later than Sept. 2. There is no fee for participating.

Thank you for being part of this important and necessary debate.

Peter A. DeFazio

U. S. Congressman

Healthcare – the rest of the story

Editor:

If the Obama health plan passes both houses of the Federal Congress and is signed by the president that is not end of the story.

Every piece of legislation is only an outline of policy. When it is passed and signed by the president it then goes to the appropriate agencies for the details of how it will be implemented and enforced.

In the case of the health bill presently in Congress it will go to what is proposed as the new Health Choices Administration. The head of the agency will be appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate.

If it is like other federal agencies the Health Choices Administration will require thousands of new employees to carry out its responsibilities. In England their health plan staff is the third largest organization in the country.

The Administrative Procedures Act, PL 79-404 requires rules and regulations adopted by the agencies to be published in the Federal Register. That voluminous document, available by mail or on the Internet, will require considerable time to read and understand but it will have effect on each and every American when adopted.

The final bill passed by Congress may be 600 or 1000 pages long BUT the rules and regulations proposed by the un-elected people in the agency can be three to 10 times as long. In Oregon some of the state agencies interpret the passed bill to fit their own biases and this is sometimes different from what the legislators intended. The same is probably true on the federal level as well.

The administrative rules have the same law enforcement power as the bill passed by Congress. If you think the bill is bad public policy and another nail in the coffin of free enterprise, watch out for the rules and regulations that will carry it out and enforce it.

And that is probably when the term “The devil is in the details” was first uttered.

Walt Schroeder

Gold Beach

Don’t believe healthcare spin

Editor:

From what you hear of Fox News, talk radio, and the pages of the Curry (Coastal) Pilot, Americans are abandoning support for health insurance reform, and especially for a non-profit “public option” that would compete with the private, for profit, insurance companies.

The Curry Pilot chose to adopt this conservative spin in its reporting of Congressman DeFazio’s recent town hall meeting in Brookings. The Pilot article in the August 15 issue titled “Congressman faces tough Curry crowd” emphasized the angry, disgruntled attendees who opposed any healthcare reform. It failed to mention the instances of loud, enthusiastic applause when Congressman DeFazio’s promised to support health insurance reform and called for a strong public insurance option.

The truth is that a large majority of Americans continue to support healthcare reform, including the public insurance option. This week we saw more proof of this from a national poll conducted by SurveyUSA that asked the question, “In any health care proposal, how important do you feel it is to give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance.” A full 77 percent of respondents favored a public option. This was one point higher than when the identical question was asked in June in an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.

Don’t believe the spin from the national conservative media or the Curry Pilot. Most Americans want and need health insurance reform, and they want it to include a strong public option.

Tomas Bozack

Brookings

Impressions of U.S. healthcare

Editor:

To all the fence-sitters out there:

•If you had enough faith in President Obama, to help him gain office, then why are you not supporting him now? Health care was his number one campaign promise. He didn’t just dream it up a couple of days ago, did he;

•Are you aware that insurance companies and major league baseball are the only two industries that are exempt from anti-trust laws? And the consumer federation of America estimates that if we repeal those two exemptions, we could help lower premiums by 10 percent;

•At our local townhall meeting last week, it sounded like many of you were under the false impression that you must pay a doctor or lawyer to establish an “end of life directive” – formerly called simply a living will. Not so! Years ago my husband and I just wrote our own wishes and named a trusted friend or relative to see that we would not be kept alive by machines or be resuscitated. Just stipulate that you don’t want those heroic measures, and in our cases we made signed and witnessed copies, and gave these directives to our doctor (or doctors) and hospital, etc. And they all made it a permanent part of our records. I just started to see a new doctor, and one of his routine forms for new patients was to check a place to show if we had done this. So it seems to me that “the best things in life are free.” After all reassurance is great, isn’t it?

Francena “Nan” Badger

Brookings

USA – a once great nation

Editor:

America should be proud.

Rachel Wilson-McCollough, on the most wanted list, has been captured by our mighty judicial system. She is called by the Pilot “The Suspected Puppy Killer.”

Oh, but wait, if Rachel had had an abortion and let a doctor kill/murder her fully formed baby she would be in favor with society. If Rachel had helped in Euthanasia, the murder of a parent, society would be in favor of it. Let’s get this straight. Rachel can’t kill a puppy but she can assist in the killing of a baby or parent human being. So if you are in a killing mood just don’t kill a puppy, euthanize/kill one of your old parents or abort/kill your baby – it’s ok. That’s America – a once great nation.

Jerry Karrle

Brookings

Dealing with dramatic issues

Editor:

There is a new group forming in Brookings to bring together people who are dealing with dramatic changes in their lives.

Our goal in this group is to share experience and receive hope, courage and purpose as we continue our journey. We see transition as a bridge to the future but, at times, this can bring uncertainty. Perhaps you have lost a job or you have moved or there had been change that was unwelcome or unexpected. All changes can be the cause of finding new strengths and a new purpose, but it is definitely easier to make these transitions if they can be shared with others who are sympathetic and encouraging. This is the goal of our weekly meeting, People in Transition support group.

Anyone who is interested in taking part should call Karen Lee, 707-267-4659, for time and place.

Kathryn Justman

Brookings

Term limits is not the solution

Editor:

In response to the “enlightening” moment for R. Ambrose: Term limits put the lobbyists in power ( Pilot, Aug. 22): If you want to have a voice about your representative, vote.

Term limits demand a thoughtless “change of guard” whether the electorate wants it or not. If you want the bum out, vote him/her out. But why automatically reject those who are dedicated to public service as decided by the electorate? I guess R. Ambrose wants Oregon to have the impasse of California where competing lobbyist tell inexperienced legislators what to do. Vote your conscience – don’t give it to the lobbyists.